Science and Curiosity

We have sequenced the human genome, eradicated smallpox, and even found a vaccine for emerging diseases like Covid-19 in record time. But after billions of dollars in research, we haven't found a solution for a disease that affects more than 14 million people and their families at any given time.  Why is it so difficult to cure cancer? Cancer arises as normal cells start to mutate. Most of the time, cells can detect mutations or DNA damage and either fix them or self-destruct. However, mistakes happen; some mutations allow cancerous cells to grow unchecked, invade nearby tissues, or even metastasize to distant organs. Cancers become almost incurable once they metastasize, And cancer is incredibly complex. It's not just one disease! There are more than 100 different types, and we don't have magic meds that can cure all of them. For most cancers, treatments usually include a combination of surgery to remove tumors and radiation and chemotherapy to kill any cancerous cells lef...

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges we face today, and the stakes could not be higher. The world has become keenly aware of the problem, and around the world, people are setting goals to solve it. To avoid the worst effects of a warming world- which will be catastrophic-humans need to stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.  Since 1850 global average temperature has risen by 1 degree Celsius. That may not sound like a significant number, but it is.  Why? Let's find out. One degree is average. Many places on earth have gotten much warmer than that. Some areas in the Arctic have already warmed by 4 degrees. If the global average temperature increases by one more degree (total increase of 2 degrees), the coldest nights in the Arctic might get ten degrees warmer, and the warmest days in Mumbai might get 5 degrees hotter.  Wonder how do we get here? Everything we do is related to fossil fuels: Coal, Oil, and Gas, which are full of carbon that releases carbo...

 Paperfuge is an assemblage of paper and strings. Inspired by the design of millenia-old toy, Paperfuge is a handpowered centrifuge that can spin biological samples at thousands of revolutions per minute (rpm). But unlike a centrifuge, Paperfuge does not require electricity, complicated machinery, maintenance or even money to operate. Paperfuge is an ultra-low cost human powered centrifuge. " There are a billion people on this planet who live with no electricity, no infrastructure, no roads and they have the same kind of health care needs that you and I have " Manu Prakash says, whose lab at Stanford developed centrifuge with these people in mind.  Paperfuge can whip blood into circles at up to 125,00 rpm, which is enough to separate plasma from the blood sample in just 90 seconds. Paperfuge produces a force of 30,000 Gs. Manu Prakash says, " To the best of my knowledge it's the fastest spinning object by human power " A centrifuge is critical for detecting dise...

 Foldscope is an ultra-affordable paper microscope which can be folded with a sheet of paper.  Foldscope is created with a vision to solve the accessibility problem in Science. It is designed to be portable and durable while performing on par with conventional research microscopes ( 140X magnification and 2 micron resolution ). Foldscope which began as a simple idea has now grown into a company that provides low cost tools to communities around the world to discover the world around and interpret it their own way.  A foldscope is an optical microscope that can be assembled using simple components like sheet of papers and lens. It is developed by Manu Prakash and designed to cost less than US$1 to build. It is the part of the frugal science movement which aims to make cheap and easy tools available for scientific use in the developing world. The mission is to break down the price barrier between people and the curiosity and the excitement of scientific exploration! With t...

 Science is not just about knowing but also about experiencing.  Today with the boon of technological advancement we have easy access to information and knowledge which is merely a click away. Science is largely about learning and it comes through the experience. So, it's more important how you can make the experience of science more accessible to a lot of people around the world.  The actual experience of science is utilizing scientific tools to make your own discoveries. Prof. Manu Prakash at Stanford University is in a quest of how can we make scientific tools that are so affordable, which are like buying a pencil from a shop, So what it would mean if a scientific tool is as accessible as pencil? What you would actually do, would you sketch with it or would you write a poetry with it, what exactly is the end of that for science? Prakash Lab do this in different fields but mainly focusing on the microscopic world. So how do you make the microscopic world easily visible,...

  Alzeimer's Disease Over a century ago a german doctor, Alois Alzeimer spotted anamolies in brain section of patient with dementia. Ever since people have been studying the plaques and tangles that he saw in the hope that one day we could understand and cure what is now known as the Alzeimer's Disease (AD) which is most common Neurodegenerative disease. Plaques are insoluble peptide called Amyloid beta (A-beta) which are formed when Amyloid Precursor Protein are cleaved by certain enzymes. Abeta is considered as the main culprit for AD. Abeta tends to misfold and sticky eventually clumping together to form oligomers. Some of which aggregate into large insoluble fibrils that deposit in the brain as plaques. Oligomers can be toxic, research shows they can weaken communication and plasticity at synapse. This could be what stops brain from forming or retrieving memories. Neuron's aren't the only cells affected in AD, astrocytes and microglia also play a role. Microglia ar...

Do you get Stressed out? Don't worry. We've all been there. Stress isn't always a bad thing. It can be handy for a burst of extra energy and focus like while playing a game or speaking in public. But when it's continuous, the kind like what we face day in and day out, it actually begins to change your brain. Chronic stress can affect brain size, its structure and how it functions right down to the genetic level. Stress begins with what is called the Hypothalamus Pituitary Adrenal axis (HPA), a series of interaction between the pituitary gland on the brain and the kidney, which controls the body's reaction to stress. When your brain detects a stressful situation your HPA axis is activated and releases a hormone called Cortisol which triggers the body for instant action. However, high levels of cortisol over high period of time are fatal for our brain. Chronic stress increases the activity level and number of neural connections in amygdala, brain's fear center. As...